The Steelers Saints Paris debut belonged to history, patience and a kicker. On Sunday, at a packed Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New Orleans Saints 16-10 in the first regular-season NFL game ever played in France, a landmark afternoon that also carried Aaron Rodgers past Peyton Manning on the league's all-time regular-season touchdown-pass list.
It was not a shootout. It was a game of field position, timely defence and nerve in the final minutes, and Pittsburgh never trailed. The Steelers improved to 5-2 with a third straight win, while the Saints slipped to 2-5 and now head into their bye week with serious questions about a running game that barely got moving.
Boswell opened the scoring with a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter, and New Orleans answered early in the second quarter when Daniel Carlson kicked a 38-yarder to level the score at 3-3. Pittsburgh's breakthrough came through its veteran quarterback and its tallest target. Rodgers moved the Steelers downfield with a 51-yard completion to DK Metcalf that reached the New Orleans 4-yard line, then found tight end Darnell Washington for a 4-yard touchdown. Washington, listed at 6-foot-7, caught the pass over 5-foot-11 cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, and the Steelers led 10-3.
New Orleans refused to fold. Quarterback Tyler Shough led a late first-half drive and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to tie the game at 10-10 with under two minutes left in the half. What followed was the sequence that may define this game in Pittsburgh lore. Rodgers was sacked by Carl Granderson on third down, leaving the Steelers with 15 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Instead of panicking, the offence sprinted to the sideline, Boswell ran on, and the kicker drilled a 47-yard field goal as the half expired. Pittsburgh went into the break ahead 13-10, and the momentum never fully left.
The second half produced only one more score, and it came from the same reliable boot. After New Orleans drove to the Pittsburgh 11-yard line to open the third quarter, Wilson stepped in front of a short pass intended for Chris Olave and intercepted it in the red zone. Pittsburgh turned the takeaway into field position, and Boswell added a 39-yard field goal for a 16-10 lead. From there, the Steelers' defence did the rest. Carlson missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, Patrick Queen sacked Shough on third down with under seven minutes remaining to stall another Saints drive, and Pittsburgh ground more than five minutes off the clock on its final possession before kneeling out the win.
The NFL has spent years turning its international series into a genuine part of the season rather than a novelty, and Paris was the next frontier. Sunday's game was the league's sixth international game of the 2026 season, in a year with a record nine games staged outside the United States. France had never hosted a regular-season NFL game before, and Stade de France drew more than 78,000 fans.
Pittsburgh arrived in France in form, having won in Tampa Bay and at home against Indianapolis beforehand. New Orleans arrived searching for consistency. Some fan events around the game were cancelled amid protests in France, although reports said they did not interfere with the teams or the game itself.
Strip away the occasion, and Pittsburgh won in three familiar ways: it ran the ball, it protected the football, and it took its points whenever they were available. Warren's 101 yards on 18 carries gave the Steelers balance, picking up first downs when Pittsburgh needed to shorten the game and keeping Rodgers out of obvious passing situations. Rodgers finished 19 of 30 for 212 yards and a touchdown, efficient rather than explosive, and his one scoring throw was enough because Boswell was perfect when it counted.
The defence produced the game's defining stop. Shough completed 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown, but the Saints could not finish drives. They rushed for only 18 yards as a team, a strikingly low total that left them one-dimensional, and Wilson's interception came at the exact moment when a Saints touchdown would have flipped the game. Pittsburgh finished with 343 net yards to New Orleans' 281 and held the ball for 32 minutes and 3 seconds, compared with 27 minutes and 57 seconds for the Saints. In a low-scoring game on a neutral field, those are the margins that decide who flies home happy.
Rodgers' most revealing moment came late in the fourth quarter, when a protective slide was simply not an option. On third-and-6, the 42-year-old left the pocket, picked up 8 yards and was tackled just before the two-minute warning, a play that helped Pittsburgh seal the win.
"Sometimes you've got to suck it up and make a play for your guys," Rodgers said afterwards. "I think because I am so much less athletic than I used to be, it actually fires up the guys even more."
Wilson explained that his interception was no accident, saying he had rehearsed that exact look repeatedly in practice. "That's honestly just a credit to our coaches and what we do every day in practice," Wilson said. "I've repped that play, no lie, more than 20 times now. Just gambling a little bit and undercutting it."
Seated beside him afterwards, Rodgers joked about their practice history and spoke warmly about the trips to Ireland and France, floating the idea of a full week of international games in future seasons.
For Pittsburgh, the win matters for the standings as much as for history. At 5-2, with three straight wins, the Steelers sit strongly in the AFC North ahead of a rematch with Cleveland, who beat them 27-24 earlier this season. A team that can win ugly on another continent is building a reputation it can carry into January.
For the NFL, Paris is proof of concept: a competitive game, a full stadium and a historic milestone strengthen the case for France as a regular stop. For New Orleans, the defeat is a warning about a one-dimensional attack. For Rodgers, passing Manning in Paris gives the milestone a setting that will be remembered long after the score fades.
Pittsburgh returns home to host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, 1 November at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, a divisional game with first place in the AFC North at stake. Cleveland beat Tennessee 27-24 on Sunday, while Cincinnati came back from 13-0 down at half-time to beat Baltimore 35-13, so the division remains packed and the Steelers cannot afford a letdown after the long trip home.
New Orleans has a bye in Week 8 to rest and fix the running game. Elsewhere, the international roadshow rolls on to Madrid, Munich and Mexico City. For the latest on Monday night's Philadelphia-Dallas game, see our live coverage of Cowboys vs Eagles live: Barkley scores on return in Monday Night Football thriller, and keep following US News Pulse for the newest NFL news as the season heads towards the trade deadline and the play-off race.
Pittsburgh beat New Orleans 16-10. Chris Boswell kicked three field goals, Aaron Rodgers threw one touchdown pass, and the Saints' only touchdown came on a 1-yard pass from Tyler Shough to Devaughn Vele.
It was the first regular-season NFL game ever played in France, staged at Stade de France in Saint-Denis in front of more than 78,000 fans, as part of the league's record nine-game international schedule for 2026.
Rodgers threw his 540th career regular-season touchdown pass, moving past Peyton Manning into third place on the NFL's all-time list for regular-season touchdown passes.
Jaylen Warren ran for 101 yards on 18 carries, Darnell Washington caught the touchdown, Chris Boswell kicked three field goals, and Payton Wilson made a crucial red-zone interception in the third quarter.
Pittsburgh hosts Cleveland on Sunday, 1 November in a key AFC North game, while New Orleans has a bye week in Week 8 before returning to action.
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